1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to the field of treatment of alkali pulp black liquors to obtain useful organosilicon resins and oils therefrom.
2. Background of the Invention
Alkali pulp black liquors such as those obtained from paper processing and which include sulfite pulp black liquors generally present problems with respect to their disposal. Thus, these materials are highly corrosive and generally do not contain any useful compounds or are difficult to treat in order to retrieve the useful compounds therefrom. Moreover, because of the corrosiveness, such materials can not simply be disposed of into waterways because of the extreme pollution problems which they cause.
Such alkali pulp black liquors generally contain various types of sugar acids, sugar alcohols, and other compounds containing hydroxyl radicals e.g., other types of carbohydrates or polyfunctional organic systems. Certain types of black liquors, particularly, those obtained from the pulp digestion utilizing an alkali process treatment of plants of the gramineae family, e.g., rice straw, also contain silicic acid and other water soluble or insoluble silicates. In contrast, the black liquor obtained from wood usually treated with the sulfate process does not contain silicic acid.
In any event, all of these black liquors are generally disposed of without attempting to obtain any useful products therefrom because of the complexity of the mixtures of which such black liquors are composed.